How God Led Me to Africa: Mara Safari

The Astonishing Landscape:

It was unbelievable how close we were to the untamed animals!

This is how close I was to the lion in the previous picture!!

We were allowed to walk within about 5 feet of the rhinos, without any barriers!

Jambo!!! (Hello!!!) How do I begin to describe my weekend??? Stellar, amazing, superb, paradise....the list goes on! I was truly surrounded by God's presence this weekend! I had such an amazing experience! So, let me start by filling you in on what I did this weekend.

Of course when most people think of Africa, wild animals comes to mind! Well, I was given the opportunity to go on a safari this weekend...and not just any safari! I stayed at Mara Safari Club, a five-star resort that was rated one of the top world-renown resorts! And all for a amazing $300 US dollars, which included a 3 day/2 night stay, 6 delectable meals, 4 game drives, and travel! The resort has special rates for guest of Tenwek Hospital...and any missionaries visiting Tenwek are highly encouraged to go experience this resort! We had tea/coffee brought to our tent each morning with our wake-up call, our beds turned down each night, massages, personal waiters...basically we were waited on for our every need. And when I say tent...I mean an exquisite bedroom/bathroom with all the extras that you could want...we even had a heating pad placed at the foot of our bed, under the covers, waiting for us when we returned to our rooms each night. The Mara River ran right in front of our rooms, so in the mornings you could walk out onto your balcony and watch the hippos play in the river!! The scenery was majestic, the animals surreal, the staff unbelievable friendly and welcoming. We walked up to a herd of rhinos and stood about 5 feet from them, lions and cheetahs were within 10 feet of our open Landrover. It was such an incredible experience! We saw zebra, giraffes, buffalo, elephants, a variety of antelopes, hennas....and many more. It was definitely a surreal moment in my life. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking! God's creations were seen everywhere...His presence felt everywhere.

While visiting the safari club this weekend, my new friend Lyle (who is a med student missionary here at Tenwek) and I met up with two other girl medical students who are located at another missionary hospital here in Kenya, one Samantha and the other Letizia. Samantha is a follower, while Letizia is not but has a heart for mission work. Samantha and myself bonded right away and share many things in common...we were able to witness and share fellowship with one another which was an incredible experience! We were also able to witness to Letizia, who began to ask questions toward the end of our visit!

On Saturday morning, Cyrus (the staff that cleaned my room) and I ran into one another on the path that leads to my room. He of course sparked up a conversation by asking me how my day was and offering to help me carry my bag. We began to talk and Cyrus mentioned that I had a beautiful Bible...he had seen it in my bed when he was cleaning my room. Cyrus and I began to talk about how we both were followers of Christ, then he informed me that the staff had a small community located next to the resort that had a chapel. The villagers met there EVERYDAY for worship from 1-1:30pm and again from 10-11pm at night. He extended an invitation to me and I immediately accepted! My new friend, Samantha, decided to join me as well. So, at 1pm on Saturday I attended my first Swahili church service! It was quite an experience! They sang two songs...although I didn't understand the words, the spirit and music were so uplifting! Samantha and I clapped and danced around with all the Kenyans. A Kenyan woman led worship...it was centered on 1 Samuel 13, when Samuel rebukes Saul for not being passionate and waiting on the Lord's timing. It was a wonderful and powerful message...and funny enough a message that Samantha and I had chatted about by the pool earlier in the day. After service was prayer time, then they thanked Samantha and I for visiting and worshiping with them and asked us to come to the front to say some words. We were both caught off guard, but the Lord spoke through us and we stood before the congregation as witnesses speaking for about 10 minutes. After service was over everyone wanted to greet us and shake our hands...it was a God loving moment!!

I am so blessed to have gotten to experience such a majestic place...it is a paradise hidden within Kenya! It is so nice to get a different perspective on Kenya, and not just leave here with only being shown one way of life! I am beginning to see how much the presence of God is felt throughout Kenya! It is apparent everywhere...the Kenyans love God! I came to witness to them, but they are doing an incredible job witnessing right back!

Today I was reading "Crazy Love" and found the following passage to be very enlightening: "Maybe life's pretty good for you right now. God has given you this good stuff so that yo can show the world a person who enjoys blessings, but who is still totally obsessed with God. Or maybe life is tough right now, and everything feels like a struggle. God has allowed hard things in life so you can show the world that your God is great and that knowing Him brings peace and joy, even when life is hard. It is easy to become disillusioned with the circumstances of our lives compared to others'. To be brutally honest, it doesn't really matter what place you find yourself right now. Your part is to bring Him glory."

The simplicity of the Kenyan lifestyle does not blind them with worldly distractions. Life is a struggle for most here, but they have found peace and joy through our Jesus Christ! It is the US I have come to feel sorry for...we are given so much and so many let that distract them from the love of our Lord! My prayers are with the US citizens. The Kenyans may not own much on the Earth, but they will have an abundance waiting for them in our eternal kingdom.
" Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." Luke 12:15
"No servant can serve two masters. Either he will have the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." Luke 16:13

It is a beauty that can not be described. I am so thankful I have been given the opportunity to experience this culture! What an incredible journey I am on!!

I have amazing pictures to post, but will have to wait for faster internet speed. Asante! (Thank You!)

The Safari!!!!

This is a picture from the deck connected to my room. The river directly behind me is called "Hippo's Corner" and that is where the hippo's are found each morning!